Simplify Sign-On with SSO and Improve MTTR

Anyone working in a professional setting these days has felt the pain of the multiple log-in shuffle. Some have even given the time wasting phenomenon a name, “swivel chair administration.” From alert lists, to shells, to network monitoring tools, over to server monitoring tools, internal chat applications, cyber security platforms, corporate intranet, and shared servers… the list can go on and on. Most of us have to keep lists of usernames and passwords for all the tools we use on a daily basis. No matter the specifics of which platforms we need to sign in to, most people have, at one time or another, wished for a simpler way to work. Active Directory, LDAP, Radius, and other systems exist to bring applications together, but then we wind up with several of those in our system – back to square one. Edge is an integration platform with a solution that beats the credential crush by simplifying access, while protecting data integrity.

Integration Platforms Simplify the Sign-in Process

Beating swivel chair administration starts with Single Sign-On (SSO) to an integration platform. A key component of an integration platform approach is creating a seamless flow across different user accounts and credentials through each of the underlying systems. In order to streamline user experience, integration platforms provide tools that allow the administrator to create and publish content, like a troubleshooting page created for top-tier customers, to the users and accounts established within the organization.

With the right integration platform, users can access and display information from back-end applications without having to manually login to each of these applications. Once a user logs in to the integration platform, no other credentials are required.

How Does Single Sign-On Improve MTTR?

In the context of network management, SSO helps improve Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) by simplifying the processes of NOC engineers, technicians and managers. Beyond the obvious time saved by eliminating up to 30 minutes at the beginning of every shift to login to every tool, SSO facilitates a more streamlined way of working overall. With the right integration platform, combing through disparate information from siloed applications for networks, servers, databases and all the other aspects of keeping a network healthy can be eliminated. SSO and integrated dashboards facilitate reductions in MTTR, because everyone across the NOC and its connected departments – as well as customer sites in the MSP context – can work smarter and faster.

Capabilities to Look for in an Integration Platform:

Pre-built library of integrations that provides Single Sign-On capability with no custom software development and minor modification to back-end applications.

The ability to query back-end data stores and present the resulting information in a formatted and contextual display to multiple end users.

Access options for many users of an end tool can be configured through via a data API account, and can limit the number of named user accounts that are needed in the application.

Single Sign-On Security

The ideal platform will support the integration of various security and authentication schemes presented by existing applications. This capability is implemented through a component that handles all authentication interactions between the user and third-party services. An optimized solution must also provide a proxy engine to allow SSO to be rapidly configured for virtually any application.

How Does Edge Single Sign-On Work?

edgeSuite is a robust data visualization solution from Edge Technologies. One part of the solution is secure SSO. edgeSuite provides secure Single Sign-On (SSO) across multiple applications in a secure, user-friendly system that improves efficiency and user experience during the workday. Edge accomplishes secure SSO through the integration of backend applications which are tied to a common external user authentication system, or even stitches multiple approaches together. edgeSuite securely passes user credentials to the backend applications using SSO tokens. If a user enters his credentials and there is no matching SSO token stored for that user and that backend application, the credentials are no longer valid and the user will be re-prompted for their credentials.

Additionally, when a user logs out of edgeSuite, Single Sign-Out automatically logs the user out of all integrated applications with open sessions. This provides additional security and performance by limiting the number of open sessions. It can also lower costs and eliminate lockouts by reducing the number of concurrent licenses that are needed for the integrated applications.

Learn more about how Edge’s SSO capabilities can be utilized within your organization to save time and produce improved outcomes.